With A New CEO And Revamped Board, Is YRC Worldwide Back On Track For A Turnaround?

Can James Welch, the new CEO of one time transportation giant YRC Worldwide, succeed in  retooling and rehabilitating the company that was close to bankruptcy last year? The quick answer is yes, based on his less-than-a-year performance as helmsman of the ailing YRC.

With his extensive experience in the trucking industry, some investors believe that if there’s anybody who could pull the behemoth out of its dark hole, it would be Welch, a 33-year veteran in the transportation industry, including 29 years at YRC.

His years at YRC culminated in his being promoted to president and chief executive of YRC’s Yellow Transportation subsidiary in 2000. The unit posted record operating profits from 2004 to 2006.

Welch, however, quit in 2007 when he started to question the new direction that parent YRC was taking. “I disagreed with the new acquisitive strategy of the company, and I felt the acquisitions it was pursuing were ill-timed and were bad moves,” says Welch. The acquisitions, he noted, boosted the company’s debt level to $1.3 billion. So at age 52, Welch quit YRC and retired.  Full Story...........